Military history of African Americans in the U.S. Civil War
Encyclopedia
The history of African American
s in the American Civil War
is marked by 186,097 (7,122 officers, 178,975 enlisted) African Americans comprising 163 units who served in the Union Army
during the Civil War
, and many more African Americans who served in the Union Navy
. Both free African Americans and runaway slave
s joined the fight. On the Confederate side, both free and slave blacks were used for labor, but the issue of whether to arm them, and under what terms, became a major source of debate, and no significant numbers were ever raised or recruited.
, surrounded Washington D.C.), the response of white soldiers and officers, as well as the effectiveness of a colored fighting force were raised. Despite official reluctance from above, a number of officers in the field experimented, with varying degrees of success, in raising black regiments, including David Hunter
, James H. Lane
, and Benjamin F. Butler
.
On July 17, 1862, Congress
passed two acts allowing the enlistment of African Americans, but official enrollment occurred only after the September 1862 issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation
. However, state and local militia
units had already begun enlisting blacks, including the Black Brigade of Cincinnati
, raised in September to help provide manpower to thwart a feared Confederate raid on Cincinnati.
In actual numbers, African American soldiers comprised 10% of the entire Union Army
. Losses among African American
s were high, and from all reported casualties, approximately 20% of all African Americans enrolled in the military lost their lives during the Civil War
. Notably, their mortality rate was significantly higher than white soldiers;
In general, white soldiers and officers believed that black men lacked the ability to fight and fight well. In October 1862, African American soldiers of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers silenced their critics by repulsing attacking Confederate
guerrillas at the Skirmish at Island Mound
, Missouri
in October 1862. By August, 1863, 14 Negro Regiments were in the field and ready for service. At the Battle of Port Hudson, Louisiana
, May 27, 1863, the African American soldiers bravely advanced over open ground in the face of deadly artillery
fire. Although the attack failed, the black soldiers proved their capability to withstand the heat of battle, with General Banks
recording in the his official report; "Whatever doubt may have existed heretofore as to the efficiency of organizations of this character, the history of this days proves...in this class of troops effective supporters and defenders."
, South Carolina
, by the 54th Massachusetts Infantry on July 18, 1863. The 54th volunteered to lead the assault on the strongly fortified Confederate positions. The soldiers of the 54th scaled the fort's parapet, and were only driven back after brutal hand-to-hand combat. Despite the defeat, the unit was hailed for its valor which spurred further African-American recruitment, giving the Union a numerical military advantage from a population the Confederacy did not attempt to exploit until the closing days of the war.
African American soldiers participated in every major campaign of 1864–65 except Sherman's Atlanta Campaign
in Georgia
. The year 1864 was especially eventful for African American troops. On April 12, 1864, at Battle of Fort Pillow
, Tennessee
, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest
led his 2,500 men against the Union-held fortification, occupied by 292 black and 285 white soldiers. After driving in the Union pickets and giving the garrison an opportunity to surrender, Forrest's men swarmed into the fort with little difficulty and drove the Federals down the river's bluff into a deadly crossfire. Casualties were high and only sixty-two of the U.S. Colored Troops survived the fight. Many accused the Confederates of perpetrating a massacre of black troops, and the controversy continues today. The battle cry for the Negro soldier east of the Mississippi River
became "Remember Fort Pillow!"
The Battle of Chaffin's Farm
, Virginia
became one of the most heroic engagements involving African Americans. On September 29, 1864, the African American division of the Eighteenth Corps, after being pinned down by Confederate artillery fire for about 30 minutes, charged the earthworks and rushed up the slopes of the heights. During the hour-long engagement the division suffered tremendous casualties. Of the twenty-five African Americans who were awarded the Medal of Honor
during the Civil War, fourteen received the honor as a result of their actions at Chaffin's Farm.
Although black soldiers proved themselves as reputable soldiers, discrimination in pay and other areas remained widespread. According to the Militia Act of 1862
, soldiers of African descent were to receive $10.00 a month, with an optional deduction for clothing at $3.00. In contrast, white privates received sixteen dollars per month plus a clothing allowance of $3.50. Many regiments struggled for equal pay, some refusing any money until June 15, 1864, when Congress granted equal pay for all black soldiers. Besides discrimination in pay, colored units were often disproportionately assigned laborer work. General Daniel Ullman
, commander of the Corps d'Afrique, remarked "I fear that many high officials outside of Washington have no other intention than that these men shall be used as diggers and drudges."
. One of these spies was Mary Bowser
.
In time, the Union Navy would see almost 16% of its ranks supplied by African Americans, performing in a wide range of enlisted roles. In contrast to the Army, the Navy from the outset not only paid equal wages between white and black sailors, but offered considerably more for even entry-level enlisted positions. Food rations and medical care were also improved over the Army, with the Navy benefiting from a regular stream of supplies from Union-held ports.
Becoming a commissioned officer, however was still out of reach for black sailors. Only the rank of petty officer
would be offered to black sailors, and in practice, only to free blacks (who often were the only ones with naval careers sufficiently long to earn the rank).
"Nearly 40% of the Confederacy's population were unfree...the work required to sustain the same society during war naturally fell disproportionately on black shoulders as well. By drawing so many white men into the army, indeed, the war multiplied the importance of the black work force." Even Georgia's Governor Joseph E. Brown
noted that "the country and the army are mainly dependent upon slave labor for support."
The impressment of slaves, and conscription of freedmen, into direct military labor, initially came on the impetus of state legislatures, and by 1864 six states had regulated impressment (Florida, Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, in order of authorization) as well as the Confederate Congress. Slave labor was used in a wide variety of support roles, from infrastructure and mining, to teamster and medical roles such as hospital attendants and nurses.
The idea of arming slaves for use as soldiers was speculated on from the onset of the war, but not seriously considered by Davis or others in his administration. As the Union saw victories in the fall of 1862 and the spring of 1863, however, the need for more manpower was acknowledged by the Confederacy in the form of conscription of white men, and the national impressment of free and slave blacks into laborer positions. State militias composed of freedmen were offered, but the War Department spurned the offer. One of the more notable state militias was the all black 1st Louisiana Native Guard
, a militia unit composed of free men of color. It was the first of any North American unit to have African American officers. The unit was short lived, and forced to disband in February 1862. The unit was "intended as a response to demands from members of New Orleans' substantial free black population that they be permitted to participate in the defense of their state, the unit was used by Confederate authorities for public display and propaganda purposes but was not allowed to fight." A Union army regiment was later formed under the same name after General Butler took control of the city.
In January 1864, General Patrick Cleburne
and several other Confederate officers in the Army of Tennessee
proposed using slaves as soldiers in the national army to buttress falling troop numbers. Cleburne recommended offering slaves their freedom if they fought and survived. Confederate President Jefferson Davis
refused to consider Cleburne's proposal and forbade further discussion of the idea. In fact, a number of prominent generals dissented, including Howell Cobb
, Beauregard, and Anderson.
Despite the suppression of Cleburne's idea, the question of enlisting slaves into the army had not faded away, but had become a fixture of debate amongst the columns of southern newspapers and southern society in the winter of 1864. Representative of the two sides in the debate were the Richmond Enquirer and the Charleston Courier :
On January 11, 1865 General Robert E. Lee
wrote the Confederate Congress urging them to arm and enlist black slaves in exchange for their freedom. On March 13, the Confederate Congress passed legislation to raise and enlist companies of black soldiers. The legislation was then promulgated into military policy by Davis in General Order No. 14 on March 23, 1865. The emancipation offered, however, was reliant upon a master's consent; "no slave will be accepted as a recruit unless with his own consent and with the approbation of his master by a written instrument conferring, as far as he may, the rights of a freedman"
Despite calculations of Virginia's state auditor, that some 4,700 free black males and more than 25,000 male slaves between eighteen and forty five years of age were fit for service, only a small number were raised in the intervening months, most coming from two local hospitals -Windsor and Jackson- as well as a formal recruiting center created by General Ewell
and staffed by Majors Pegram and Turner. A month after the order was issued, the number was still "forty or fifty colored soldiers, enlisted under the act of congress". In his memoirs, Davis stated "There did not remain time enough to obtain any result from its provisions"
Guards under Capt. Henry Favrot, portions of the Pointe Coupee
Light Infantry under Capt. Ferdinand Claiborne, and the Augustin Guards and Monet's Guards of Natchitoches
under Dr. Jean Burdin. The only official duties ever given to the Natchitoches units were funeral honor guard details.
One account of an unidentified African American fighting for the Confederacy, from two Southern 1862 newspapers, tells of "a huge negro" fighting under the command of Confederate Major General John C. Breckinridge
against the 14th Maine Infantry Regiment
in a battle
near Baton Rouge, Louisiana
, on August 5, 1862. The man was described as being "armed and equipped with knapsack, musket, and uniform", and helping to lead the attack. The man's status of being a freedman or a slave is unknown.
Several African Americans are known to have participated in some capacity on the Southern side in the Battle of Gettysburg. After the battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, "reported among the rebel prisoners were seven blacks in Confederate uniforms fully armed as soldiers."
Dr. Lewis Steiner, Chief Inspector of the United States Sanitary Commission while observing Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson's occupation of Frederick, Maryland, in 1862: "Over 3,000 Negroes must be included in this number [Confederate troops]. These were clad in all kinds of uniforms, not only in cast-off or captured United States uniforms, but in coats with Southern buttons, State buttons, etc. These were shabby, but not shabbier or seedier than those worn by white men in the rebel ranks. Most of the Negroes had arms, rifles, muskets, sabers, bowie-knives, dirks, etc.....and were manifestly an integral portion of the Southern Confederate Army."
Union Brigadier-General D. Stuart observed that "...the enemy, and especially their armed negroes, did dare to rise and fire, and did serious execution upon our men. The casualties in the brigade were 11 killed, 40 wounded, and 4 missing; aggregate, 55....".
The number of African-Americans, both slave and free, that served in the Confederate Army in a direct combat capacity was minor, and was never official policy. After the war, the State of Tennessee granted Confederate Pensions to nearly 300 African Americans for their service to the Confederacy. Discussions amongst CSA officers on the potential enlistment of slaves is highlighted in the section above.
Prisoner exchanges between the Union and Confederacy were suspended when the Confederacy refused to return black soldiers captured in uniform. In October 1862, the Confederate Congress issued a resolution declaring all Negroes, free and slave, that they should be delivered to their respective states "to be dealt with according to the present and future laws of such State or States". In a letter to General Beauregard on this issue, Secretary Seddon
pointed out that "Slaves in flagrant rebellion are subject to death by the laws of every slave-holding State" but that "to guard, however, against possible abuse...the order of execution should be reposed in the general commanding the special locality of the capture."
However, Seddon, concerned about the "embarrassments attending this question", urged that former slaves be sent back to their owners. As for freemen, they would be handed over to Confederates for confinement and put to hard labor. Some have claimed that the experience of colored troops and their white officers in prison life was not significantly different than members of white units.. However, African American prisoners of war were forced to construct entrenchments around Richmond in 1864. There are no reports of white prisoners doing such forced labor under fire.
When Ulysses S. Grant became Commander of the Union Army, all exchanges were ceased. Union General Benjamin Butler later stated that: "He (Grant) said that I would agree with him that by the exchange of prisoners we get no men fit to go into our army, and every soldier we gave the Confederates went immediately into theirs, so that the exchange was virtually so much aid to them and none to us."
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
is marked by 186,097 (7,122 officers, 178,975 enlisted) African Americans comprising 163 units who served in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and many more African Americans who served in the Union Navy
Union Navy
The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...
. Both free African Americans and runaway slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
s joined the fight. On the Confederate side, both free and slave blacks were used for labor, but the issue of whether to arm them, and under what terms, became a major source of debate, and no significant numbers were ever raised or recruited.
Union Army
The issue of raising black regiments in the Union's war efforts was at first met with trepidation by officials within the Union command structure, Abraham Lincoln included. Concerns over the response of the border states (of which one, MarylandMaryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, surrounded Washington D.C.), the response of white soldiers and officers, as well as the effectiveness of a colored fighting force were raised. Despite official reluctance from above, a number of officers in the field experimented, with varying degrees of success, in raising black regiments, including David Hunter
David Hunter
David Hunter was a Union general in the American Civil War. He achieved fame by his unauthorized 1862 order emancipating slaves in three Southern states and as the president of the military commission trying the conspirators involved with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.-Early...
, James H. Lane
James H. Lane (Senator)
James Henry Lane also known as Jim Lane was a partisan during the Bleeding Kansas period that immediately preceded the American Civil War. During the war, Lane served as a United States Senator and as a general who fought for the Union...
, and Benjamin F. Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician)
Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts....
.
On July 17, 1862, Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
passed two acts allowing the enlistment of African Americans, but official enrollment occurred only after the September 1862 issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation is an executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War using his war powers. It proclaimed the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves, and immediately freed 50,000 of them, with nearly...
. However, state and local militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
units had already begun enlisting blacks, including the Black Brigade of Cincinnati
Black Brigade of Cincinnati
The Black Brigade of Cincinnati was a military unit that was organized during the Civil War when the city of Cincinnati, Ohio was in danger of being attacked by Confederates. The men that were a part of the Black Brigade were among the first of their race to be employed by the military of the...
, raised in September to help provide manpower to thwart a feared Confederate raid on Cincinnati.
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
. Losses among African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s were high, and from all reported casualties, approximately 20% of all African Americans enrolled in the military lost their lives during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Notably, their mortality rate was significantly higher than white soldiers;
Early battles in 1862 and 1863
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
guerrillas at the Skirmish at Island Mound
Skirmish at Island Mound
The Skirmish at Island Mound was a skirmish of the American Civil War, occurring from October 27 to October 29, 1862, in Bates County, Missouri. This Union victory was notable as the first known engagement of an African-American regiment during the Civil War....
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
in October 1862. By August, 1863, 14 Negro Regiments were in the field and ready for service. At the Battle of Port Hudson, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, May 27, 1863, the African American soldiers bravely advanced over open ground in the face of deadly artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
fire. Although the attack failed, the black soldiers proved their capability to withstand the heat of battle, with General Banks
Nathaniel Prentice Banks
Nathaniel Prentice Banks was an American politician and soldier, served as the 24th Governor of Massachusetts, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and as a Union general during the American Civil War....
recording in the his official report; "Whatever doubt may have existed heretofore as to the efficiency of organizations of this character, the history of this days proves...in this class of troops effective supporters and defenders."
Fort Wagner, Fort Pillow, and beyond
The most widely known battle fought by African Americans was the assault on Fort WagnerBattle of Fort Wagner
The First Battle of Fort Wagner was fought on July 10 and 11, 1863, on Morris Island in Charleston harbor during the American Civil War. An attempt by the Union Army to capture Fort Wagner was repulsed. The more famous Second Battle of Fort Wagner, which involved an assault by the 54th...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, by the 54th Massachusetts Infantry on July 18, 1863. The 54th volunteered to lead the assault on the strongly fortified Confederate positions. The soldiers of the 54th scaled the fort's parapet, and were only driven back after brutal hand-to-hand combat. Despite the defeat, the unit was hailed for its valor which spurred further African-American recruitment, giving the Union a numerical military advantage from a population the Confederacy did not attempt to exploit until the closing days of the war.
African American soldiers participated in every major campaign of 1864–65 except Sherman's Atlanta Campaign
Atlanta Campaign
The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May...
in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. The year 1864 was especially eventful for African American troops. On April 12, 1864, at Battle of Fort Pillow
Battle of Fort Pillow
The Battle of Fort Pillow, also known as the Fort Pillow Massacre, was fought on April 12, 1864, at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River in Henning, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. The battle ended with a massacre of surrendered Federal black troops by soldiers under the command of...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He is remembered both as a self-educated, innovative cavalry leader during the war and as a leading southern advocate in the postwar years...
led his 2,500 men against the Union-held fortification, occupied by 292 black and 285 white soldiers. After driving in the Union pickets and giving the garrison an opportunity to surrender, Forrest's men swarmed into the fort with little difficulty and drove the Federals down the river's bluff into a deadly crossfire. Casualties were high and only sixty-two of the U.S. Colored Troops survived the fight. Many accused the Confederates of perpetrating a massacre of black troops, and the controversy continues today. The battle cry for the Negro soldier east of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
became "Remember Fort Pillow!"
The Battle of Chaffin's Farm
Battle of Chaffin's Farm
The Battle of Chaffin's Farm and New Market Heights, also known as Laurel Hill and combats at Forts Harrison, Johnson, and Gilmer, was fought September 29–30, 1864, as part of the Siege of Petersburg in the American Civil War.-Background:...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
became one of the most heroic engagements involving African Americans. On September 29, 1864, the African American division of the Eighteenth Corps, after being pinned down by Confederate artillery fire for about 30 minutes, charged the earthworks and rushed up the slopes of the heights. During the hour-long engagement the division suffered tremendous casualties. Of the twenty-five African Americans who were awarded the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
during the Civil War, fourteen received the honor as a result of their actions at Chaffin's Farm.
Discrimination in pay and assignments
Militia Act of 1862
The Militia Act of 1862, , enacted July 17, 1862, was legislation enacted by the 37th United States Congress during the American Civil War that allowed African-Americans to participate as war laborers and soldiers for the first time since the Militia Act of 1792.The act created controversy on...
, soldiers of African descent were to receive $10.00 a month, with an optional deduction for clothing at $3.00. In contrast, white privates received sixteen dollars per month plus a clothing allowance of $3.50. Many regiments struggled for equal pay, some refusing any money until June 15, 1864, when Congress granted equal pay for all black soldiers. Besides discrimination in pay, colored units were often disproportionately assigned laborer work. General Daniel Ullman
Daniel Ullman
Daniel Ullman was an American lawyer and politician from New York and was a Major General in the American Civil War.-Political career:...
, commander of the Corps d'Afrique, remarked "I fear that many high officials outside of Washington have no other intention than that these men shall be used as diggers and drudges."
African American contributions to Union war intelligence
Blacks, both slave and free, were also heavily involved in assisting the Union in matters of intelligence, and their contributions were labeled Black DispatchesBlack Dispatches
Black Dispatches was a common term used among Union military men in the American Civil War for intelligence on Confederate forces provided by Negroes...
. One of these spies was Mary Bowser
Mary Bowser
Mary Elizabeth Bowser was an American freed slave who worked in connection with Elizabeth Van Lew as a Union spy during the Civil War.-Later life:...
.
Union Navy
Like the army, the Union Navy's official position at the beginning of the war was ambivalence towards the use of either Northern free blacks or runaway slaves. The constant stream, however, of escaped slaves seeking refuge aboard Union ships, forced the navy to formulate a policy towards them. Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Wells in a terse order, pointed out the following;In time, the Union Navy would see almost 16% of its ranks supplied by African Americans, performing in a wide range of enlisted roles. In contrast to the Army, the Navy from the outset not only paid equal wages between white and black sailors, but offered considerably more for even entry-level enlisted positions. Food rations and medical care were also improved over the Army, with the Navy benefiting from a regular stream of supplies from Union-held ports.
Becoming a commissioned officer, however was still out of reach for black sailors. Only the rank of petty officer
Petty Officer
A petty officer is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotion OR-6. They are equal in rank to sergeant, British Army and Royal Air Force. A Petty Officer is superior in rank to Leading Rate and subordinate to Chief Petty Officer, in the case of the British Armed...
would be offered to black sailors, and in practice, only to free blacks (who often were the only ones with naval careers sufficiently long to earn the rank).
Union relief workers
"Approximately 10 percent of the Union’s female relief workforce was of African descent: free blacks of diverse education and class background who earned wages or worked without pay in the larger cause of freedom, and runaway slaves who sought sanctuary in military camps and hospitals."Confederate States Army
Joseph E. Brown
Joseph Emerson Brown , often referred to as Joe Brown, was the 42nd Governor of Georgia from 1857 to 1865, and a U.S. Senator from 1880 to 1891...
noted that "the country and the army are mainly dependent upon slave labor for support."
The impressment of slaves, and conscription of freedmen, into direct military labor, initially came on the impetus of state legislatures, and by 1864 six states had regulated impressment (Florida, Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, in order of authorization) as well as the Confederate Congress. Slave labor was used in a wide variety of support roles, from infrastructure and mining, to teamster and medical roles such as hospital attendants and nurses.
The idea of arming slaves for use as soldiers was speculated on from the onset of the war, but not seriously considered by Davis or others in his administration. As the Union saw victories in the fall of 1862 and the spring of 1863, however, the need for more manpower was acknowledged by the Confederacy in the form of conscription of white men, and the national impressment of free and slave blacks into laborer positions. State militias composed of freedmen were offered, but the War Department spurned the offer. One of the more notable state militias was the all black 1st Louisiana Native Guard
1st Louisiana Native Guard (CSA)
The 1st Louisiana Native Guard was a Confederate Louisiana militia of "free persons of color" formed in 1861 in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was disbanded in February 1862; some of the members joined the Union Army's 1st Louisiana Native Guard regiment The 1st Louisiana Native Guard (CSA) was a...
, a militia unit composed of free men of color. It was the first of any North American unit to have African American officers. The unit was short lived, and forced to disband in February 1862. The unit was "intended as a response to demands from members of New Orleans' substantial free black population that they be permitted to participate in the defense of their state, the unit was used by Confederate authorities for public display and propaganda purposes but was not allowed to fight." A Union army regiment was later formed under the same name after General Butler took control of the city.
In January 1864, General Patrick Cleburne
Patrick Cleburne
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne was an Irish American soldier, best known for his service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, where he rose to the rank of major general....
and several other Confederate officers in the Army of Tennessee
Army of Tennessee
The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating in most of the significant battles in the Western Theater...
proposed using slaves as soldiers in the national army to buttress falling troop numbers. Cleburne recommended offering slaves their freedom if they fought and survived. Confederate President Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
refused to consider Cleburne's proposal and forbade further discussion of the idea. In fact, a number of prominent generals dissented, including Howell Cobb
Howell Cobb
Howell Cobb was an American political figure. A Southern Democrat, Cobb was a five-term member of the United States House of Representatives and Speaker of the House from 1849 to 1851...
, Beauregard, and Anderson.
Despite the suppression of Cleburne's idea, the question of enlisting slaves into the army had not faded away, but had become a fixture of debate amongst the columns of southern newspapers and southern society in the winter of 1864. Representative of the two sides in the debate were the Richmond Enquirer and the Charleston Courier :
On January 11, 1865 General Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
wrote the Confederate Congress urging them to arm and enlist black slaves in exchange for their freedom. On March 13, the Confederate Congress passed legislation to raise and enlist companies of black soldiers. The legislation was then promulgated into military policy by Davis in General Order No. 14 on March 23, 1865. The emancipation offered, however, was reliant upon a master's consent; "no slave will be accepted as a recruit unless with his own consent and with the approbation of his master by a written instrument conferring, as far as he may, the rights of a freedman"
Despite calculations of Virginia's state auditor, that some 4,700 free black males and more than 25,000 male slaves between eighteen and forty five years of age were fit for service, only a small number were raised in the intervening months, most coming from two local hospitals -Windsor and Jackson- as well as a formal recruiting center created by General Ewell
Ewell
Ewell is a village in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, close to the southern boundary of Greater London. It is located 14 miles south-south-west of Charing Cross and forms part of the suburbia that surrounds Greater London. Despite its growing population it is still referred to as a...
and staffed by Majors Pegram and Turner. A month after the order was issued, the number was still "forty or fifty colored soldiers, enlisted under the act of congress". In his memoirs, Davis stated "There did not remain time enough to obtain any result from its provisions"
African Americans in the CSA
A few other lesser known Confederate militia units of free men of color were raised throughout Louisiana at the beginning of the war. These units included: the Baton RougeBaton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
Guards under Capt. Henry Favrot, portions of the Pointe Coupee
Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana
Pointe Coupee Parish, pronounced "Pwent Koo-Pay" and , is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is New Roads. As of 2000, the population was 22,763....
Light Infantry under Capt. Ferdinand Claiborne, and the Augustin Guards and Monet's Guards of Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
under Dr. Jean Burdin. The only official duties ever given to the Natchitoches units were funeral honor guard details.
One account of an unidentified African American fighting for the Confederacy, from two Southern 1862 newspapers, tells of "a huge negro" fighting under the command of Confederate Major General John C. Breckinridge
John C. Breckinridge
John Cabell Breckinridge was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Kentucky and was the 14th Vice President of the United States , to date the youngest vice president in U.S...
against the 14th Maine Infantry Regiment
14th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 14th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment was mustered in for three year's service on December 31, 1861 and were mustered out on January 13, 1865. It lost 86 killed or died of wounds and 332 died from disease.-Service in Louisiana:...
in a battle
Battle of Baton Rouge (1862)
The Battle of Baton Rouge was a ground and naval battle in the American Civil War fought in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, on August 5, 1862. The Union victory halted Confederate attempts to recapture the capital city of Louisiana.-Background:...
near Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, on August 5, 1862. The man was described as being "armed and equipped with knapsack, musket, and uniform", and helping to lead the attack. The man's status of being a freedman or a slave is unknown.
Several African Americans are known to have participated in some capacity on the Southern side in the Battle of Gettysburg. After the battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, "reported among the rebel prisoners were seven blacks in Confederate uniforms fully armed as soldiers."
Dr. Lewis Steiner, Chief Inspector of the United States Sanitary Commission while observing Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson's occupation of Frederick, Maryland, in 1862: "Over 3,000 Negroes must be included in this number [Confederate troops]. These were clad in all kinds of uniforms, not only in cast-off or captured United States uniforms, but in coats with Southern buttons, State buttons, etc. These were shabby, but not shabbier or seedier than those worn by white men in the rebel ranks. Most of the Negroes had arms, rifles, muskets, sabers, bowie-knives, dirks, etc.....and were manifestly an integral portion of the Southern Confederate Army."
Union Brigadier-General D. Stuart observed that "...the enemy, and especially their armed negroes, did dare to rise and fire, and did serious execution upon our men. The casualties in the brigade were 11 killed, 40 wounded, and 4 missing; aggregate, 55....".
The number of African-Americans, both slave and free, that served in the Confederate Army in a direct combat capacity was minor, and was never official policy. After the war, the State of Tennessee granted Confederate Pensions to nearly 300 African Americans for their service to the Confederacy. Discussions amongst CSA officers on the potential enlistment of slaves is highlighted in the section above.
Confederate Navy
Naval historian Ivan Musicant has written that there were blacks who served in the Confederate Navy. Muscicant wrote:United States colored troops as prisoners of war
James Seddon
James Alexander Seddon was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms in the U.S. Congress as a member of the Democratic Party. He was appointed Confederate States Secretary of War by Jefferson Davis during the American Civil War.-Biography:Seddon was born in Falmouth, Stafford County,...
pointed out that "Slaves in flagrant rebellion are subject to death by the laws of every slave-holding State" but that "to guard, however, against possible abuse...the order of execution should be reposed in the general commanding the special locality of the capture."
However, Seddon, concerned about the "embarrassments attending this question", urged that former slaves be sent back to their owners. As for freemen, they would be handed over to Confederates for confinement and put to hard labor. Some have claimed that the experience of colored troops and their white officers in prison life was not significantly different than members of white units.. However, African American prisoners of war were forced to construct entrenchments around Richmond in 1864. There are no reports of white prisoners doing such forced labor under fire.
When Ulysses S. Grant became Commander of the Union Army, all exchanges were ceased. Union General Benjamin Butler later stated that: "He (Grant) said that I would agree with him that by the exchange of prisoners we get no men fit to go into our army, and every soldier we gave the Confederates went immediately into theirs, so that the exchange was virtually so much aid to them and none to us."
See also
- German-Americans in the Civil WarGerman-Americans in the Civil WarGerman-Americans in the American Civil War were the largest ethnic contingent to fight for the Union. More than 200,000 native Germans served in the Union Army, with New York and Ohio each providing ten divisions dominated by German-born men....
- Foreign enlistment in the American Civil WarForeign enlistment in the American Civil WarFar more successful in attracting international volunteers, Foreign enlistment in the American Civil War was largely dominated by the Union, although a significant number of immigrants and mercenaries served with the Confederacy numbering in the thousands....
External links
- African Americans and the Civil War - slideshow by Life magazine
- Rhode Island College LibGuide - African Americans and the Civil War